Andy Reid Teleconference Transcript

Read coach Reid's thoughts, one day after his team defeated the Eagles

Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid QuotesSeptember 20, 2013

OPENING STATEMENT:

“I don’t have an injury report for you guys, right now. The guys are just getting in right now, so we’ll just see when we have something and I’ll give it to you.”

Now that it’s over, can you say that the game meant something extra to you?

“It was interesting at the end. That was when it all hit, that I was playing in Philadelphia again. I don’t know if you let your guard down or whatever, but when the players are coming up to you and you congratulate them, that’s kind of when you felt it, when I felt it.”

When McCoy went down in the second quarter, you went over to him; did you just want to make sure he was alright?

“Well listen, he’s a good kid. First of all, you don’t want anyone hurt. I don’t want him to be hurt for various reasons. I know all of those kids; that’s the tough part. You don’t want to see any of them get hurt. You want them all to play. You want all of their best players to play; that’s just how you want to go about it.”

How big was that moment with you and your son, after the game?

“It was good, obviously. The last two weeks, we’ve been right next to each other when the game ended, which is amazing, because he’s doing the defensive signals and I’m calling plays; so, we’re on opposite ends of the field. We happened to be together the last two weeks at the end and that’s a special thing. There are not many chances you have to work with your son and then to go through something like that, it was very special.”

Can you assess the offensive line last night?

“We’re young there and we’re getting better. We have to continue to work there and keep working as a unit and getting to know each other. As the game went on, we progressively got better, which is important. The last two weeks, they’ve been really taking over in the end of the game and done a pretty good job of finishing things up.”

Where does something like that come from? Is it just a will at the end of the game?

“It obviously starts with (Chiefs offensive coordinator) Andy Heck and his guys and where they work and the perseverance they go through. Your strength coaches are a part of that, your trainers are a part of that; everybody is a part of that. Obviously, we have a great running back and that helps too. Like I said, they’re young and they learn as they go. They don’t get frustrated to where they go into the tanker. They just keep working and working to get it right and good things have happened the last couple of weeks for them.”

Can you share your thoughts on the defensive performance last night?

“I thought they played dominant football, at times. If you’re going to play that offense, you’re going to have a couple of big plays. That’s going to happen. They have way too much talent on that offense and they have a great scheme. I guess what I was (most proud) about with the defense was, so they made a big play, they said 'alright they got one, but we’re coming back at you; we’re going to give you our best shot this play and see how that works'. With that attitude, we were able to keep them out of the end zone. That attitude, for the most part, that attitude contributes to that.”

Has the defense exceeded your expectations with all of the pass rushing, etc.?

“I expect good things from everybody, including the coaching staff, myself; I just expect it. That’s how I go into it. I expect to do a good job. I can’t tell you that they’ve exceeded, but I’m proud of them and how they’re playing right now. We’re early in this season; we’re only in the third game here, as we just finished that up. We have a lot of season ahead of us and it’s important that we keep getting better. There’s room to improve here and we can’t lose focus of that.”

What happened at the end of the first half?

“There is a human element to this whole thing. We as coaches have it and officials are part of it and they have it. Sometimes, we make mistakes and they made a mistake; that’s what happened. It all worked out okay, but there was a mistake made with just the spotting of the football and I get it, I mean, I know how things work, I got it; but, that’s what happened.”

Is everything okay with Dwayne Bowe? There were times when it looked like he should have been out there?

“Well, we have different personnel groups that we are using. Everything’s fine with Bowe, yeah, everything’s fine.”

Through the first few games, Alex Smith has been averaging around 34-35 passes a game; is that about where you wanted him to be in the first few games and will that go up in the next few games?

“We’ll see. It just depends on who we play and I mean, I won’t put a number on it or anything; I think every game is different. Some games, it could be higher and some games, it could be lower; it just depends on what we’re trying to get accomplished. One of our primary goals is to make sure we’ve scored points; I mean, that’s obvious. We’re going to try to do what we think is best to do that. We (may) do it better sometimes than other times, but that’s our primary objective. I never put a number on those types of things.”

Can you talk about the design of the big Donnie Avery play? Also, how close is the fine line with guys blocking down the field like that?

“First of all, you don’t want to be in that situation very often and we were in it three too many times. Then, when it’s a long yardage situation like that, normally coverage tightens up okay with the catch and the block. It was almost a screen play and that’s really what it ends up being on a play like that. They did a good job; everybody did a good job.”

How do you stress not turning the ball over to the team?

“I keep it real simple. I’ve told you this before—turnovers and points on both sides of the ball are very important. From the defensive standpoint, you want to create turnovers and takeaways and you want to limit points. Offensively, you want to score points and eliminate turnovers. That’s been—from the first meeting with the players, that’s what we’ve stressed. Touchdowns do matter from special teams, from offense and defense; you want everybody to be involved in that part of the spark.”

You hired Chris Ault and Brad Childress with some special titles. Did they contribute to this week’s game plan?

“You saw us on the pistol looks in this game and you saw some last week with the option game. We didn’t run any option this week—I take that back, we did run some option plays. We ended up handing it off, but there were two in there. It also helped last game, a couple of things, the wrinkles that we’ve done in the past games and they’ve come off that. So, I would tell you, yep.”